It Was Quiet in the Granger House
by gingersunlights
Summary: Hermione leaves her parents, and remembers her last day with them before it slips away. What awaits her now, she will go to see.
1. Goodbyes

It was quiet in the Granger house.

"I cannot just let you run away, Hermione- look at me when I speak to you!"Jane's voice rang loudly through the empty hallway.

"What, mother, shall I just unpack my bags, then? Hmm? Shall I just leave them be, pretend everything's all right?"

"It isn't your fight! You haven't any responsibility, for God's sake, you're only a child!"

"I was a child."

"Now, don't star-" but Hermione held up her hand, and her mother stopped what was sure to be a futile protest.

"No, I was a child. When it all began, I was still wide eyed and hopeful. But I grew up, mother, I haven't been that little girl for quite some time now, and I do have a responsibility now. I cannot run away."

"Run away."

"Yes, run away."

A heavy silence reigned the place between them now, and Jean wore upon her face a look of absolute defeat.

And after a moment, "If only we had known."

"Knowing doesn't matter now, mother, that time has gone."

"Yes, I suppose it has."

Another pause filled the air, and Hermione, exhausted from the yelling, took the opportunity to sit heavily on the sofa. It was grey suede, picked out rather carefully by her mother.

Looking back up to Jean, who had stayed standing on the hardwood floor, Hermione said "sometimes, I think that time was never here."

When Jean said nothing, Hermione continued.

"I think, sometimes, that I never had a choice in all this. That it was always meant to be. When I look back, I can't think of a single moment past the first day on the Hogwarts Express in which I could have said my goodbyes. Even in those first, unpleasant months. We were always meant to be."

Hermione put her head in her hands then, and drew a breath in resignation.

"I wish that I'd had a chance, mum. I with that I'd had lovely, sunny days in the park with my friends, and I wish that my largest concern had always been my potions grade. I wish for so many things, I know I've got a list somewhere," She said with a dry laugh.

Hermione lifted her head.

"I feel unraveled."

Jean Granger could see now, something she had hoped never to see in her pretty, autumn baby.

There was pain in her daughter's eyes, and she couldn't make it go away. Not this time. No ice cream cones, no warm blankets.

"I wish there were something I could do."

"I know, mum."

OoOoO

The next morning her father had returned, a grim expression upon his tired face. The three Grangers sat now in the grey- green living room at the centre of the house.

Hermione wore pink, denim, and finality, while mother and father wore fear on their very sleeves.

She would have invited Dumbledore to stand in the back of the room, or perhaps by the door, but she had wanted to say her goodbyes like this. Alone, in her childhood home.

"I'm leaving today," she said, breaking the silence.

"Yes," said Jean.

"I'll not write you. Please don't try to contact me, we'll be Untraceable."

"Okay," said Matthew.

"You understand that this may be the last time we see each other, so I've made arrangements with Dumbeldore to safeguard my things, should I never return. There are some things to be left to the Order when we're through."

"Should you never return?" asked her mother.

"Er- yes. There is every possibility that I will ah- not make it. As it happens, I am quite high on Voldemort's list, making me a high-priced target. It is very likely that I will not return home.

"As such," She continued on, "I have made safe house arrangements for you."

"What?" asked Jane, "We have to move?"

"Well, yes, unless you'd like a lovely little midnight visit from the Dark Lord's goons."

"Listen here, you can't just uproot us, Hermione, we've got jobs-"

"Taken care of," said Hermione.

"What do you mean?"

"It takes less effort than one might think to disappear for a bit. Especially given that you've got the help of wizards. Three confundus charms, two obliviated secretaries, two new hires, and an all-expenses paid trip to Tahiti for the next three months, to start."

Hermione ticked each off her fingers as she went.

"You really thought of everything," said Matthew.

Hermione looked out the window. The owl had arrived.

Looking back to her parents, Hermione said "It's time."

OoOoO

Later, in the forest of Dean, Hermione remembered that final day with mum and dad. It seemed a lifetime ago, and she couldn't remember what her mother wore. Nor what her father's last words to her had been. Perhaps her old life was slipping away altogether. Perhaps it was kinder this way. No one to mourn in her final moments.

She looked over to the edge of the river, where Harry collected stones. They were meant for a makeshift fireplace, to roast whatever they could find.

Hermione could almost see her life as though she had already lived it, and if she had, this would be the moment she'd remember least. Nothing important, just a lull between fighting, another empty moment in their running. Today, though, right now, it was all she had. Harry Potter and his stupid shoes, digging through the snow for pebbles.


	2. To Godric's Hollow

"Harry!" she called, "We'll freeze if we stay our here much longer!"

"Just a moment, 'Mione, I've found better stones over here!" he called back.

Resigning herself to a few minutes more of bitter cold in search of stones for a fire pit, Hermione stood up, and stepped lightly over snow-covered grass until she reached him.

"What've you got, then?"

"Look, Hermione, they shine." Harry whispered, in apparent awe.

"Never seen the inside of a geode before, I take it." She said, crouching down next to him.

"Nah, Padma told me about them, like the use of amethyst in love potions, but I've never seen one up close. It's so pretty, 'Mione, I hate to use it."

"No harm, Harry, we'll make a lovely thing out of it, won't we?" she assured him. "Just imagine how it'll look with fire dancing over it."

"Yeah." Came his response. "I suppose."

A while later, when Harry and Hermione had finally constructed their fireplace, they sat just inside the door of their tent. It was cold outside, and neither had any interest in catching hypothermia for the sake of roast rabbit.

"What d'you think- eat, and leave just after?"

"I can't think of a reason to stay any longer." An awkward sort of pause followed Hermione's insistence, for Ron had yet to return.

"You've still got the rabbit under a stasis charm, haven't you?"

"Yeah, no worries, 'Mione."

"Right, no worries." She said, rubbing her temples. "No worries."

It was a while deciding where to go, but Hermione resolved, in the end, to take them to a Cliffside she had once known. When they had left, very finally, the two had taken with them the precious geode that Harry had so taken a liking to.

"I didn't want to leave it." Said Harry. "I think I've grown attached."

"It's alright, Harry, it wouldn't have been appreciated by anyone but the bugs if you had left it there, by the bank."

Taking it from him, and slipping the rock into her beaded bag, Hermione resolved to fashion it into some sort of keepsake for him, or perhaps keep it with her until the day came that Harry had a mantle upon which she could set it.  
She did hope to make it that far.

Seated in the tent together, researching the sword of Gryffindor, the two kept quiet. So quiet, in fact, that the slightest rustle from outside could be heard clear as day. It would later prove to be of immense luck that they studied in such silence.

Turning his head ever so slightly in Hermione's direction, Harry caught her eye. When she looked as though she might ask what was going on, he held a finger up to his lips in a gesture for silence.

Discretely, then, Harry pointed his finger to the flap of the tent.

It had moved.

There was no wind today, and surely the wind did not make a crunching noise, anyhow. Their stalker was not well practiced, and today, he would be caught.

Together, they stood, casting dillusionment charms upon themselves as they went. Harry to the flap, and Hermione to the gap on the other side of the tent.  
It had been ripped during their flight from the wedding, and Hermione had left it, just pressed together with magic, so it might serve as an escape route, should they need one.

Gently opening it up, she performed a modified version of_ levicorpus _on herself, and walked a few inches above the ground.

Harry, on the other side of the tent, opted for a less stealthy approach, running straight out as soon as he felt Hermione leave the space.

"Come and get me, you sneak!" He shouted.

Hearing nothing, he yelled again- "Come on out, dearie, don't you hide!"

This time, Harry heard a sudden noise behind him, and was nearly knocked on his face as their adversary rushed him.

Lunging forward, Harry got their man around the neck, and held tight, waiting for Hermione's inevitable body bind curse.

Sure enough, a firm "_petrificus totalus!_" was heard, and Hermione rematerialized before them.

Letting go, Harry said "Thanks, Hermione. He's a strong one, that's for sure. Fought me pretty hard."

"Who is he?"

"I dunno." Said Harry.

Turning him over, they saw the face of a dirty, ragged man. His clothes were tattered, and he wore purple over one eye.

"Looks like he was on the run." Said Hermione.

"Like us?"

"Yeah, I think so. He must have been starving, look how skinny he is. I don't think he wanted to hurt us, Harry, I think he was hungry."

_Out here, already, we see the effects of war. Will we ever escape?_

Seeing the disheveled state of their attacker, Harry softened a bit. One might say that he felt a pang in his chest for Remus, who wore similar robes.

"Alright, we apparate him to the nearest hospital, then? With a bit of money?"

"No, whoever he was running from will find him."

"You're not suggesting we keep him?"

"No, don't be silly, Harry, I just think we should take him to a church. Churches don't ask for social security numbers, and they certainly don't call your family. I think he'll be safe at the cathedral in Godric's Hollow."

"We're going to Godric's Hollow?"

"It would appear that way, yes." She said, closing her eyes, and placing a magical bind on the man's body.


	3. What Comes After

When they arrived at Godric's hollow, Harry and Hermione were greeted by wind and snow.

Looking around at the cemetery, Hermione saw fairy lights strewn across one of the headstones, undoubtedly kept lighted by magic, and garlands of evergreen-and-roses arranged over the boughs of one tree.

"Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve."

OoOoO

"I'm not going in there." Said Harry.

"Oh yes you are, and you're taking him with you, before the spell wears off." Countered Hermione.

"But 'Mione I don't even know them, and they're gonna recognize me!"

"Go under the cloak!"

"You do it!"

Pinching the bridge of her nose now, Hermione asked "Harry. Honey. Why don't you want to go inside?"

After a breath, Harry looked down, rubbed at the back of his neck, and said "It's possible that I might have a slight phobia of churches."

"What."

"Petunia always made me go." He said in a small voice, quite unbefitting of someone Harry's age. "She's an evangelical; it was always brimstone and hellfire, and it scared the shit out of me. I was only a kid, and she had the nerve to look at me sideways whenever the priest, or whatever he was, talked about 'the devil's work.' I haven't been back since that day I blew up Marge in third year." He admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Harry, I know you know it isn't true what they said, and that you're fine and remarkably well-adjusted given your situation, but I'm still going to tell you that it's okay for you to be afraid to go in to that church." Said Hermione, reaching out to fuss at his hair.

"Thanks, 'Mione." He said, looking up at her again. "You know I kinda love you, right?"

"Yeah, dumbass, I know." She said with a smirk, earning her a flick on the nose. "Now get that man into that church, pronto." She ordered.

"Yeah, alright, I'm a big boy. I can totally do this. Taking the man into the cathedral now."

Harry hoisted the man up, and tried to carry him in, which resulted in Hermione rolling her eyes, and casting a levitation charm on the man.

"Honestly, I don't know what you'd do without me." She said.

"Die, probably." Said Harry, simply.

OoOoO

On their way back out of Godric's Hollow, Harry slowed his walk a bit, and taking one of Hermione's wrists in both of his hands and tugging, he said "'Mione."

And Hermione said "Yes?"

"Uh. Um. Could we maybe have a look in the cemetery before we leave? Do you think?"

Smiling a bit, Hermione said "Yeah, Harry, I think we could."

Walking through the headstones found Harry wishing for something heavier than his wool coat. It was colder in there, and Harry didn't particularly fancy thinking about exactly why.

As though sensing his discomfort, Hermione came up behind Harry and did something with her wand that resulted in a warm sort of bubble enveloping him.

"Thanks, 'Mione."

"Hmm. You're welcome, dear." She said.

"Found anything interesting?" Harry asked

"Incidentally, yes, I have. I found your mum and dad."

"Take me there?"

"Sure."

OoOoO

They spent the better part of an hour sat in front of Lily and James Potter's headstone. Harry thought it was fitting that they were both under the same one. He thought that they shouldn't have liked to be separated in death, after having been together in life for such a short time.

By the time Harry came back to the world once again, the snow had fallen in a thick layer around their knees, and Hermione was starting to shiver.

"Looks like the charm's wearing off."

"Yeah." Said Harry. "Let's go home, okay?"

"Yes, lets." Agreed Hermione.

Actually, hang on just a second, Harry." Said Hermione, looking in the direction of a large, flat, headstone. "There's something I want to see."

Later, when Harry asked, Hermione would say that she had only felt some sort of pull toward the marble of Ignotus Peverell's headstone, and that she had no real Idea why it called to her in the first place.

"Magic." They had both decided. It could certainly do funny things, couldn't it.

OoOoO

After the snake incident, Harry and Hermione both swore never to follow animated corpses through the dark to their lairs ever again. Harry did make it out alive, but his glasses, and more importantly, his wand, were not so lucky.

"Hermione. Let me see it."

"No."

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"It is, Harry, I don't think it can be fixed."

"Please, Hermione. Let me see it, honey, come on." Asked Harry, pulling at the fingers of her tightly-clenched left hand, and with a carefully calm, plaintive expression on his face.

Relenting, Hermione placed the broken wand in his hands, and set his newly-repaired glasses down on the snow beside him.

"I did everything I could, but wands are different-"

"It's okay, Hermione, really. It wasn't your fault."

"I'm sorry." Said Hermione.

"It's alright, we'll share yours. No worries, Hermione, we'll find another one in good time." Said Harry, making a gesture for Hermione to come sit with him.

Not quite looking like she felt absolved of her crime, Hermione scooted over to where Harry was sat beneath their favorite oak tree, and laid her head on his shoulder. Harry put his arm around her waist, and tugged her in closer.

After a moment, Harry said "We'll be alright Hermione. We'll make it out of this alive, just you wait and see."

They stayed like that, tucked closely together under their tree, for a while longer, and when the sun finally began to set, and their warming charm began to fade, they got up, brushed off the snow, and retreated to the safety of their tent.

OoOoO

The next day, Hermione tried to do a location spell on Ron.

"I just can't get it to work!" She exclaimed.

I don't know what's wrong, maybe it's the _salvia hexia_ we've got around the tent, I know it can stop the flow of location magic to the inside, but I didn't think that it worked the same way going out! What use could that possibly be, why create a spell that inhibits the caster, when everyone knows perfectly well that to evade someone, you must know where they are- it would be a terrible mistake in terms of advanced tracking, and-"

Harry had put his hand squarely over Hermione's mouth.

"Hermione. Love. We'll find him." Said Harry, looking her straight in the eye. He took his hand off Hermione's mouth, just in time to see a tear well up in her eye.

When her mouth started to tremble, Harry knew it had gotten bad.

Taking the spellbook away from her, Harry set it on the coffee table, and used the sleeve of the sweater he was wearing-which happened to be Hermione's- and wiped away the beginning of her tears.

Sitting down beside her on the couch, Harry shifted them both so that Hermione could sit facing him, and he grabbed the throw-pillow from the loveseat beside them, and gave it to Hermione to curl around.

Hermione looked at Harry for confirmation, and getting a nod, she began to talk.

"I can't sleep, Harry." She said, crumpling a bit under the weight of her confession. "Not when I know he's out there, all by himself, probably looking for us, and we haven't gotten any closer to finding the next horcrux, and I can't sleep."

Just, damn him, Harry, for running away. And damn the fucking dark lord, and the god-damned _Death Eaters _and this stupid war, and everyone!"

Hermione was crying in earnest now, and she had to fight through the hiccups to get her words out.

I just- hic -can't understand- hic -_why_\- hic- everything has to be so fucked up!" She said, waving her hands about.

I just can't anymore, Harry. I- hic -need a fucking break, is what I need." She said, laying her head heavily in both hands.

_I just need a fucking break._

"'Mione," Harry said, taking her hand.

Hermione hung her head, and refused to look at him.

"Do you want to take a break from horcrux-hunting?" He asked.

"No." said Hermione, in a small, stuffy voice.

"Do you want to have a hug?"

"Yes." She said, in the same voice.

Hermione looked up at Harry, pressed her pillow to his chest, and turned around to sit in his criss-crossed legs.

"I have had it, Harry." She said, snuggling in to his negative space now, and closing her eyes.

"I know you have, love." Said Harry, setting his arms loosely about her waist.

"I have positively _had it_ with this war." She said again, pulling them tighter around her.

"Yeah, that's about the size of it."

"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to sleep now."

"Okay."


	4. All the In-Between Places

"Are you ready?" Asked Hermione.

"As I'll ever be." Said Harry, and they were whisked away.

OoOoO

The pair of them landed on the soft grass just outside Hogsmeade with a dull thump, instantly chilled by the whipping wind.

It was nighttime, and despite the fact that the sun had just fallen below the horizon an hour earlier, not a single torch was lit in the entire village, and on the horizon, the castle was completely dark.

"What d'you reckon, 'Mione?"

"There's a curfew. I'd say we're outside it's bounds. Nothing out here but grass and farm animals, and that's not even for a few miles. No man's land." She said, looking about.

"What do we do?"

"We find a way in."

OoOoO

After retreating to one of Sirius' old hidey-holes, the two began to form a plan.

"Right," said Harry, rubbing his hands together for warmth. After all, caves were not the coziest of haunts. "So we've got to find a way to trick whatever protective and potentially dangerous spells they've got up around the borders of Hogsmeade long enough to get into somebody's house."

"Right."

"So I'm seeing a tiny problem with this, 'Mione. We don't know what they've even got up, and if we were to check, they'd have our asses in half a second. Also, how do we know, assuming we even make it past whatever wards they've got up, that we end up in a house that contains friendlies?"

Still staring into her book, Hermione sighed. Looking up, she said "I don't know. I really just don't know." She looked disappointed, really, and like she might have been personally offended that she'd been failed by a book. "I mean, we could just make a run for it. You know, throw up everything we have, and book it to the nearest door. They'd run a search, but by the time they even got to our one, we would have been able to properly hide."

At Harry's skeptical look, she continued, "Hey, I don't see you coming up with anything watertight!" Hermione shut her book and tossed it to the side in defeat. "Shall we give up, just for now? I mean, we haven't got all the Horcruxes anyway, we could be starting something we can't finish."

Conceding defeat, Harry agreed, "Yeah, just for now."

Hermione made sure to get everything back into her little purple purse, and then, they were off once again.

OoOoO

"Harry," She said as they both arrived on another riverbank.

"Yeah?"

"I'm quite tired of this."


	5. Of a Rare Sort

"Do you think that maybe we should just ditch our plan?"

"I suppose we could, 'Mione, but there'd still be Horcruxes that need axing." Said Harry, putting down his snitch.

Hermione said nothing, but she conceded Harry's point by looking resignedly back down at her hands. She was restless, and in need of an idea.

"Why do you play with the snitch he gave you so much?"

"I dunno. I guess I just feel like it has something to tell me."

Scooting closer, Hermione said "Yeah, I reckon it does." She stuck her index finger out and brushed it across the little engravings on its glimmery surface. "It's so pretty. I never noticed before."

"Mhmm." Said Harry, who was always inclined to agree with Hermione.

The two of them were sat together on the canvas floor of their tent, at half-past eleven at night. They were tired and defeated, having returned from the cave with nothing but disappointment and a hop back to square one. The fire was crackling away on the easternmost facing wall, and the tent was filled with a warm, orange glow that shone on the grey, stone pillars that held up the kitchen roof.

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes, searching for something to bring her closer to an answer. Harry only smiled.

"Perhaps we're overthinking it." He said.

_He did always know just the right thing to say._

Hermione's eyes widened, and she sat up so quickly that she knocked the snitch straight out of Harry's hands.

"'Mione!"

"I've got it!" She exclaimed. "I've got it, I've got it, I've got it! Oh, Harry when I tell you you're not going to believe it!" She practically vibrated with excitement.

"Well, get on with it, then!" He said.

"House-elves!"

"What."

"House. Elves."

"House-el—oh. Oh. Oh no, no Hermione it'll never work." Harry protested, shaking his head, and diving under the bunk bed to retrieve the snitch from where it had fallen. "You're absolutely mad, and this time, I mean it."

"Come on, it's perfect! You-know-who doesn't care about them, he wouldn't even suspect that they'd go anywhere near his Horcruxes! Aside from that whole mess with Regulus Arcturus, he's never even taken them into mind. He'll assume they're useless because they're not wizards, and that'll lead him to assume that they won't pose a threat."

"But I thought Dobby was a rare sort. Isn't that true? They'll not want to be involved."

"But Harry, don't you see? Of course they will!" Said Hermione, and then, like she was sharing a secret, she said, "They'll do it because we asked them to."

"Of course." Said Harry, who had abandoned his hunt for the snitch, and was now bouncing on the balls of his feet. "We're Hogwarts students, the elves will do what we need them to."

"Exactly." Said Hermione. "It will be dangerous for them, but I've thought of that, you see."

"Oh?"

"Yes, I have. It's more dangerous for them in Voldemort's world than it will be in ours. And some things must be done." She said, lowering her tone. She looked just slightly sad, and pensive, but she had a determined sort of set to her mouth.

Hermione looked up at Harry seriously again, and said "Will you call him?"

And Harry said "Dobby!"

OoOoO


End file.
